Honeymoon Is Where It Begins
by True Love Lives Forever
Summary: AU – PC fic. What if Belthazor was never after the sisters? What if Cole and Phoebe met under totally different circumstances? Would their lives be different? Oh, yeah! Definitely! I'm so sorry for not updating for so long. A LONG Ch. 5 makes up for it
1. The Disappeared and the Lost

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own any Charmed characters. They belong to Aaron Spelling and others. Okay, I don't really know who they belong to, but it's definitely not me. The only thing that belongs to me is this story and the ideas I came up with while writing it.

Rating: T / PG-13 (I don't know ratings very well, but I think this fits and the story won't go much further. But if it does, let me know and I'll change the rating.)

Setting: This story starts right before Primrose Empath (the first episode of Season 3). Piper has been missing for 2 weeks (not 1 month) with Leo and the other 2 girls don't know where they are and why they have been missing for so long.

Summary: AU – P/C fic. What if Belthazor was never after the sisters? What if Cole and Phoebe met under totally different circumstances? Would their lives be different? Oh, yeah! Definitely!

Author Notes: The timeline in this story will be totally different from the one they had in the series on TV. It's just that I will be totally changing the events, even though some of them are inspired by certain episodes from the show. In any case, just forget how everything was on Charmed after the 2nd season's "Be Careful What You Witch For." Everything before it was the same, but that doesn't matter much in this story. Okay, I'll shut up now.

Honeymoon Is Where It Begins

By: True Love Lives Forever

Chapter 1: The Disappeared and the Lost

Prue set on a chair in the illuminated kitchen of the Halliwell manor. The only noise that could be heard was the raindrops falling outside. It had been a while since the rain graced San Francisco with its presence so it was quite a nice change for once.

She had just finished cooking for herself and her youngest sister Phoebe, who hasn't come home yet from buying groceries at the supermarket. Cooking. That was definitely something she wasn't used to. Cooking was something that her other sister Piper used to do every single day ever since she could remember. And those thoughts brought her back to Piper again. It seemed like the only thing she has done lately was think of Piper and where she was. Why hasn't she and Leo came back yet? They were gone for 2 weeks now and they didn't even say anything in that time, they didn't orb in for just a second to let her and Phoebe know that they were fine and that there was nothing to worry about. How could Piper do this to her and Phoebs?

That's when a sickening idea hit her: what if Piper couldn't let them know they were fine because they were in trouble? After all, the Elders aren't too happy with Leo and her being together. It's forbidden for Whitelighters and witches to be together for some reason, but who knows, maybe there is no reason but it's just the Elders' way of ruining lives.

Prue shook her head "no" with these thoughts. She didn't know the Elders, or the "Powers That Be" very well, actually she didn't know them at all, she just didn't like them much simply because they are standing in the way of her sister's happiness and that was all she needed to know. Right now, she could only hope that Piper was fine along with Leo.

Prue was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the front door slam or Phoebe coming into the house holding 3 bags with groceries. It's not that they didn't have any right now, because they did, but they decided to buy some today since they were running out and who knows what could happen tomorrow preventing them from doing house chores and all that.

"Hey, Prue," Phoebe said as she came into the kitchen, startling Prue who was too lost in thoughts to notice the world around her.

"Hey, Phoebs. You're back so soon." Prue wasn't sure how much time she had been sitting there and thinking, but she didn't think that too much time could have gone by.

Looking at her watch, Phoebe replied, "Yeah, I guess I am. Well, there was no traffic today. It's a Monday afternoon and it's raining outside. Everyone is at work and those that aren't are probably staying at home. After all, it's not exactly the best day for a picnic in the park." Then she started unpacking the groceries and putting them on their rightful places. Without being asked, Prue started to help her little sister in the silence that spread across the kitchen like a grey cloud in the sky.

Once they were finally done, they both sat down on the kitchen stools as Phoebe looked around it.

"Sooooo," Phoebe said, stretching the short word, "I see you're done cooking for today. How was it?"

"I'm definitely not used to cooking and I hope I am not going to have to do it for much longer," Prue said in-between very light giggles that were barely heard by her sister. They had agreed previously that Prue would be cooking for them and taking care of the bills while Phoebe took care of P3, Piper's club, as well as most of the chores around the house. They realized that another silence filled the air, however this time it was uncomfortable for both of them since they knew very well what the other was thinking about – Piper. She was gone and they didn't know when she would return… if ever.

After a couple minutes passed by, Phoebe couldn't take it anymore and softly whispered, "Where do you think she is, Prue? What happened to her? She just vanished with Leo and I have no clue where they are or even where they could be."

"I… Well… She's probably just with Leo. I… I mean nothing could have happened to them. She's a Charmed One for crying out loud and he could get them out of wherever they are in just an orb if there was any danger." At least that was what Prue tried to tell herself and not just Phoebe. She needed her sister. No. They needed her sister to come back and not just because they loved her so much, but also because of their duty as the Charmed Ones. Without her, they didn't have the Power of 3, and therefore were vulnerable to demonic attacks. It was just their luck that they didn't have any attacks in the past 2 weeks, except for one, a low-level demon that they were able to easily defeat by themselves with a simple potion. But what about the future? They could be attacked at any moment, any second even and if it will be a powerful demon, then Phoebe and herself were just sitting ducks.

Prue pulled out of her thoughts once again as she heard her sister start talking, though by the look on Phoebe's face it was clear that she barely made herself to pronounce those words due to her fears, and not just her fears, but their fears. "You… You don't actually think the Elders…" she just trailed off, not knowing if she should say them, as if by keeping it to herself will make everything Okay and none of this would be true.

"No. No, the Elders wouldn't do anything to Piper. I mean, she is one of the most powerful witches of our time. If they did something to her then that would tip the balance of power to the evil side and They don't want that any more than we do." Prue had just said that and of course it was logical, but there were still some doubts in her mind. She hoped this was true, just like Phoebe did.

After some hesitation and not knowing how to express herself, Phoebe started, "You know, Prue, I don't know how I feel. It's almost as if I'm torn between anger and worry," she paused for a moment, getting ready to say what she probably should to her sister – there was no sense in keeping any secrets after all, but she wasn't even sure how to phrase it. Then she started her little monologue angrily right after she stood up abruptly and started pacing the kitchen. "On some level, I… ah… I am just so angry at Piper. I mean, she just disappeared. She should have let us know how she is by now, or at least show up for a few seconds." Phoebe paused her ranting again to look at her sister, who walked up to her and hugged her in a tight embrace. "She better be back alive, Prue. That way I'm gonna get the chance to kill Piper myself."

"I'll help you," Prue replied half whispering her not-so-funny joke, trying to cheer her baby sister, which worked a bit as they started to lightly chuckle as they stood there, holding each other and taking comfort in the fact that they at least have one another and always will.

However, the end to such tender moments always comes, and theirs' was interrupted by the doorbell.

"I'll get it," Phoebe said and pulled away from her older sister. As she started walking to the door, she heard that Prue was walking just behind her.

* * *

"Morris, do you truly think this is a good idea?" said the new partner of Darryl, formally known as Inspector Morris, as they both got out of their police car and started walking up the stairs of the Halliwell manor – a place that was becoming a little too familiar for Darryl over the past few years as he helped the girls on several occasions. Since Darryl didn't seem to react much to what he was saying, the man continued, "This is a very serious case and we can't just ask anybody we come across for help. It might have tragic consequences. Besides, I don't want to baby-sit while I am undercover." 

"Calm down, Turner. You won't have to baby-sit anybody. Trust me, I know these girls. They can take care of themselves with no problems."

His partner sighed in defeat, "I'm not so sure about this and you know it." Cole Turner was not happy today at all. He used to be a lawyer for the past 1 and a half years after he left his usual way of living, or rather killing for the Underworld. Betraying the Source of All Evil was not something done by every demon, in fact, nobody who did that survived except for him, but at least he now could try and live in peace, or as close to it as possible. He tried to use his powers as little as possible for 2 separate, yet quite important, reasons: first of all, if he used his powers, the Source would be able to track him down and he didn't want that, oh definitely not, and secondly, he wanted to try to live as a mortal, like his father. After all, he was half human thanks to him and living as a demon for over a century was becoming too boring for him. Being a lawyer for 1 and a half years became boring for him too, that's why he decided to change his job. Yes, living as a mortal involved having a job to support yourself and that's why he got himself one.

He always worked alone and he wanted to continue it that way, but no, he had to have a partner once he became an Inspector, his boss was very clear on that. It's not that he didn't like Morris; it's just that he didn't want to work with anyone because that would have given him more freedom. Though apparently that's not going to happen since, to top all of that, he had to end up babysitting some woman on his very first undercover case, any woman who could take care of herself and that wasn't a cop to go with him undercover. Just great. That is just what he needed.

He saw Morris ringing the doorbell as soon as they came up to the door. Coming here was the easy part, now they had to convince one of the sisters to go with him on an undercover mission that could be fatal.

TBC

* * *

Author Notes: Here was the first chapter. I apologize that so much of it was based on the sisters missing Piper. I promise I won't do that again and it's going to be better (at least I'll try to make it better). I just thought that in the show they didn't show much on how the sisters worried about their sister, so I did that, making this a sort of sisterly chapter. 

Anyway, that was my very first story. I hope you liked it. And please, please, please review it – I want to know what you guys think. If you want to send flames – don't bother. Don't waste both your and my time.


	2. Meet Your Husband, Phoebe

To read disclaimer, rating, setting, summary, and my notes, please go to the 1st chapter.

Thank you very much to all of you who reviewed my story, thanks for the support. I really appreciate it. Reviews truly inspire writers and I'll try my best not to disappoint you guys. I wanted to update sooner, but I got a bit discouraged by a certain review (which I deleted). I know I shouldn't let those things go to my head, but it's hard not to. But I got my inspiration back and here are the personal responses:

Badgirl21: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked it. Here's more.

fanmania: Glad you liked it. Here's another chapter.

phoebe turner: I have too many ideas (PC - mostly AU's) to write all of them down. This is just one of them. Unfortunately I am a slow writer, so my chapters won't be very long, though I'll try to update frequently.

ColePhoebe4eva: I am a huge Phoebe/Cole fan as well. And yes, it will be smoother for the two of them thanks to not trying to kill them from the beginning. But there will still be problems, after all she's gonna find out eventually that he was a demon.

Flower3: Happy you liked it. I'll try to update as soon as I can, but school is coming up unfortunately and that's gonna take most of my time.

katbaby: I'm glad you liked the beginning. I also liked Cole/Darryl scenes on the show, but there weren't many, especially where they would have a friendly conversation. Unfortunately, I am not planning many scenes for them, but they will have some and I'll try to make more for you. Thanks for reviewing.

* * *

Honeymoon Is Where It Begins

By: true love lives forever

Chapter 2: Meet Your Husband, Phoebe

Phoebe, along with Prue on her heels, finally reached the door and Phoebe opened it just to be greeted by their friend Darryl, formally known as Inspector Morris, and another man whom neither Prue nor Phoebe recognized. Actually, it was a _very handsome_ man that stood next to Darryl.

Phoebe froze, and not because of Piper's power, not that she could freeze a witch anyway. She couldn't move an inch from where she stood because she just stared at him, barely noticing Darryl anymore, as she took in his beautiful sea blue eyes, his broad shoulders, his well built body, and last but not least, his charming smile. There was something about this man, something different and interesting, something that attracted Phoebe to him from her first sight. She couldn't quite figure out what it was that attracted her to him, well of course there were the looks and all that, but there was something else, something that went much deeper than just the outer shell. She didn't know what it was, but she was determined to find out.

Even though only a couple of seconds passed by, Prue was surprised that Phoebe was quiet. Usually her sister would greet whoever it was at the door and once Prue looked at her sister, she realized that Phoebe was in a trance, so she did what she thought she should before Phoebe got into an embarrassing situation from too much staring – she shook her out of it by lightly tapping on her back to pull her sister out of her reverie while also accomplishing it secretly so that the two men won't see her actions. Then, she welcomed both men into the house, quite curious what they wanted since Darryl usually came because of supernatural problems.

Darryl was the first one to speak since he knew all of the people surrounding him while coming inside as his partner seemed to be a bit uncomfortable, "Hi, Prue, Phoebe. This is my new partner at the force, Inspector Cole Turner." Just as he was saying the last sentence, Darryl pointed to his new partner, who was already extending his hand to shake it with the sisters, starting with Prue. Darryl continued, "Turner, this is Prue Halliwell and Phoebe Halliwell," he said as he pointed to each of the sisters. Prue shook the outstretched hand lightly and said, "Nice to meet you. Come on in into the living room." Cole also shook hands with a self-conscious Phoebe was trying very hard to get over the embarrassment of staring at him like a tiger at its prey.

All four of them eventually walked into the living room as Prue led them and Phoebe walked behind the group. She sincerely hoped that this new partner of Darryl's didn't notice her staring at him. And if he did, what would he think of her? She certainly didn't want him to think nastily about her.

But against Phoebe's wishes, Cole did catch her on her little secret; after all, he is an inspector and should pay attention to details – that's a huge part of his job. But what she didn't know was that he also did a bit of staring himself, though he snapped out of it before anybody had the chance to catch him. Now he was trying not to be obvious as he shot looks at her here and there whenever he thought he could. She was definitely a beauty despite being a blonde at the same time. Blondes were not for his taste, it just seemed to him that women dyed their heir to make it blonde so that they would attract attention from men, and it worked too, but not on him. Though despite all that, he had to admit, it worked for this so called Phoebe Halliwell. It outlined her face and her brown eyes, making her look even more beautiful and desirable.

That was the moment that he realized what he was thinking and tried to snap back to reality. He had an important task at hand and he had to concentrate on it, otherwise he could get himself killed as well as whoever would go with him – that is if Darryl and himself could convince one of the sisters, preferably the youngest Halliwell.

Prue and Phoebe sat on a smaller couch while the men sat opposite them on another sofa, both were quite comfortable.

Finally, Prue spoke her thoughts, "I'm a bit confused, what are you two doing here? Can we somehow help you with something?"

Darryl took a deep breath, knowing he had a long conversation ahead of him and that his partner probably won't be talking much since he doesn't know the sisters. And in addition to that, he knew that Turner didn't like the idea much so he wouldn't try to convince the sisters to go with him much since he was against it in the first place. Finally he started, "Where's Piper? I would rather say this once when all of you are here. I know I should have called to say I was coming, but I didn't want to talk about this over the phone." There, the very first part was done with, now he only had the whole undercover idea to talk about which would take forever, also depending on how the sisters took it.

Right after hearing the name Piper, Phoebe nearly snorted in response. "Where's Piper?" she repeated what Darryl said just a few seconds ago, "That's a very good question. We're not quite sure. She…"

That's when Prue interrupted her, too afraid that she would say more than she should right in front of the new mortal whom they didn't know. If only she knew that he wasn't just mortal now, but that's a different story, "What Phoebe means is that Piper's not home right now."

That response confused Darryl so much that he raised his eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean she's not here? Is she at P3 or something? Did she go shopping? Where is she?" He eagerly waited for a response, mostly because he seriously didn't want to tell everything to Piper separately.

Prue didn't know how to answer and neither did Phoebe without saying too much and exposing magic to Inspector Turner, who just looked curiously from sister to sister also wanting an answer so that they could move on with the conversation. Prue took a deep breath the way Darryl did just a couple of minutes ago and said, "No, she's not at P3. You see, um, we're not quite sure where she is right now. She went with Leo 2 weeks ago. You know, the way _he_ usually leaves," she emphasized, trying to get her friend to understand what she meant without going much further, then continued, "We're not quite sure when she's coming home either."

By the look on Darryl's face, both sisters thought that he understood their meaning. But Cole, on the other hand, didn't. He didn't even expect these sisters to know anything about magic. "The way _he_ usually leaves? You made it sound as if this Leo just disappears into the thin air or something."

Just as he said it, Cole saw as the sisters paled and looked at each other. _He can't know about magic_, Prue thought, _was I that obvious that he figured it out_. She tried to calm down not to show her fear to the new Inspector. She quickly glanced at Phoebe and figured that she thought the exact same thing. That's when Cole interrupted both of their thoughts, "Hey, I wasn't that serious," he said as put his arms up as if to show that he surrenders, "Come on, lets get this over with." He motioned Darryl to continue.

But before Darryl could begin again, Phoebe said a bit nervously while also attempting to fake a laugh, "Of course Leo doesn't disappear into the thin air. That's just plain impossible."

After a couple of seconds, the tension in the room seemed to go back to normal and Darryl continued, "Well, here's the thing. Cole and I came here to ask for your help, though it might seem quite weird." The sisters shared a look of confusion with each other and Darryl went on trying to clear things up for them. "You see, the police have been after a rich and powerful man with lots of connections by the name of Michael Banmer for about 3 years now, but we can't prove a thing about him. The only way to prove he's a criminal is to catch him and to do that someone has to go undercover."

He glanced at his partner, who was staring into space, then seemed to pull back and continued after Darryl, so he must have paid attention after all, "I am going to be one of the undercover agents, however because of the place I am going to, I need a partner and preferably not from the force. It would be too easy for Banmer to figure us out thanks to his connections, which are basically spread around the whole country, even most of the world." The sisters paid close attention to the Inspectors' story and suddenly started to understand what was going on. "The reason why I am going undercover is because I am new to the force and my profile hasn't even been downloaded to the computer showing that I am an Inspector. Now I had to get myself a partner and Darryl proposed to talk to you three, or rather two of you as it is now." That was the first time that he talked to them about anything. He just wanted to get this over with and it seemed that Darryl didn't quite know how to approach the sisters to get one of them to go with him. Now most of it was over with.

* * *

"Well, that's just about it. Though there's just one little detail that I didn't tell you yet," Darryl said a bit uncomfortably after they had discussed the issue for almost an hour. Prue wasn't very eager to go herself or let Phoebe go on this undercover mission, but he finally persuaded the sisters to let Phoebe go with his partner, however he still didn't tell them one detail, a huge detail even though he said 'little' just a few seconds ago. And he didn't know how he should let them know about it either. 

"Well? What was it?" asked the impatient Phoebe when Darryl just froze in place, not feeling like he should continue.

"Um… Okay, here it goes…Um, Phoebe, meet your husband," Darryl finally replied to the sisters as he pointed at his partner. Silence spread over the manor, until Phoebe broke the silence as her mind wrapped around the news Darryl told her. She was attracted to Cole, yes, definitely. But she had decided to let that wait for a while until their mission was over and done with so that they wouldn't get into trouble because of it, but this was way too much for her to handle.

"What?" That was the only thing she could manage to utter. It's not everyday you find out that you are staring at your supposed husband. Whoa, whoa, wait. Husband – she wasn't married, so she said the only thing she could think of, "Uh, what's going on here, Darryl?"

"What a way to tell her, Morris. You seriously have a gift," Cole Turner told his partner sarcastically as he rolled his eyes and managed to avert Darryl's gaze.

"Hey! How did you expect me to tell her this anyway? Besides, they took it better than I thought they would." Darryl wasn't quite sure what the sisters' reaction was going to be, but he knew that if he told them any sooner, Phoebe probably wouldn't agree to go through with it. Though now he knew that he had some explaining to do and he was a bit angry at Cole for his sarcasm. If he was so smart, why didn't he say it to the sisters instead?

In the meantime, the only thing Prue could do was stare at the two men in front of her with her mouth open, not even being able to repeat what her sister said – you know that little word 'what' with a question mark in the end.

TBC

* * *

Author Notes: I hope you all liked this chapter. Phoebe and Cole are married but Phoebe doesn't know about it? Interesting, isn't it? Please review, but if you want to send flames, don't bother. Don't waste both your and my time. 

P.S. - HELP

I am new here and I don't know all the functions and all that. My story and a poem that I posted only have one space between paragraphs and I can't figure out how to make it so that I can make more spaces than just to separate the paragraphs. Please, help me figure it out.

Also, when I try to separate my writing to show that more time passed by or that it's a new scene, I can only do it using a ruler while previewing. It just doesn't stay on from Microsoft word. Do you guys know how to fix it? (I use Microsoft word to type my story/poems – if it helps to know.) Please help me. Thanks.


	3. Off to the Honeymoon

To read disclaimer, rating, setting, summary, and my notes, please go to the 1st chapter.

For about 2 years I have been an anonymous reviewer reading other people's stories and now I have finally registered and decided to write a story of my own. It definitely helps to know that people support you and like the story by simply reviewing. You don't even know what it means to me (well, maybe do if you also write). Thank you guys sooooo much. Anyway, here are the personal responses to those of you who reviewed chapter 2:

Blue eyes6: Thanks for both of your reviews. I'm glad you like the way I changed the storyline a bit and the fact that Phoebe and Cole will be pretending to be a married couple.

angeleyes: There will definitely be quite a few Phoebe/Cole scenes in this story and in this chapter too, after all, it's a P/C fic.

NorthShoreFan: Thanks and here's more. And I'm very happy that you put me to your favorites list. It must mean that I am doing something right. Thanks.

ColePhoebe4eva: Well, your confusion should disappear while you read this chapter as well as the up coming ones. By the way, I couldn't figure out what "lol" means. What does it mean? Anyway, I'll stop getting in your way of finding out the answer.

katbaby: Thanks for the compliments and, of course, the review. By the way, what I said before (about there not being many Darryl/Cole moments), well, I guess I lied. I changed my mind. Darryl is going to be in this story a lot (I knew that before), and I'll make more friendly moments for the two of the. And here's more.

Phoebe Turner Halliwell: You are good. You figured it all out – you know, about my story. I'm very glad that you are reading it, I am obviously reading yours too and I love "Eternal Flame" and "If That's What It Takes." We're reviewing each other's stories, and I think that's cool. Also, thank you very much for your compliment about me being a talented author. It means a whole lot to me. And by the way, you are a very talented writer yourself and I am waiting for your updates just like you're waiting for mine. Oh, and don't worry that you don't know how to fix my problem. I'm just asking someone who does know to tell me.

Badgirl21: First of all, thanks. I know it might sound confusing that they are married and Phoebe doesn't even know about it, but I wrote it that way on purpose – you now, a cliffhanger. And don't worry, I'll clear things up in this chapter, as well as the following ones.

PhoebelovesCole: Thanks for the compliment. And here's more.

sehar: Thanks so much for the review. I'm so happy you like it. And I came up with the husband/wife idea a long time ago – it will definitely give some opportunities to make humor out of it.

Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope you like it.

* * *

Honeymoon Is Where It Begins

By: true love lives forever

Chapter 3: Off to the Honeymoon

Phoebe stood next to Cole as they both waited in the San Francisco port. Both had their baggage with them, which they placed on the cement so that they didn't hold the bags because otherwise they would be way too exhausted by the time they could board their ship. It's not as if they had a thousand bags or anything like that because they only had enough to get them by for 3 weeks, it's just that they would still need to wait for about half an hour until boarding time started and there was a huge line for people to get in, so they just might as well wait and relax a bit until the time came.

It has only been 3 days since the whole discussion about the undercover mission that the whole group had in the manor, but since that day a lot has happened even though only a short amount of time has passed by. At first, Cole and Darryl had to do a lot of paperwork about the supposed marriage of Phoebe and Cole. That has taken a lot of time to do, but once it was done, they also had to get the tickets for the cruise ship for Phoebe and Cole's honeymoon.

Yep, they had to go on their honeymoon for three weeks on a cruise ship. That was the whole deal, the reason why both of them had to pretend to be the happy newlyweds. As Darryl and Cole explained it that day at the manor, this Michael Banmer owned this cruise ship and used it to smuggle drugs to various countries that the ship visited. It is the perfect cover and nobody suspected a thing for 5 years, until 3 years ago one detective caught them. However, that didn't help much because the pictures that he had taken had disappeared the next day before he could have shown them to anyone and unfortunately, the police can't prove anything because of lack of evidence. Even worse, that detective disappeared a few days later and his disappearance is still left as an open case since nobody can prove it to be connected to the drug smuggling. At first, nobody knew that Michael Banmer was involved, but with a lot of digging, it has finally been discovered, though unfortunately without any evidence so far.

And now here they were, going on a cruise to try and prove all of that in just 3 weeks that they had. This is the closest that the police came to and if the two of them blew it now, it might take another 3 years to prove that this Banmer truly is such a bastard. Eight years is way more than enough for smuggling the biggest loads of drugs onto the streets of dozens of countries. Now the time has definitely come to stop it all and to put the ones involved behind bars.

Suddenly, Cole touched Phoebe's hand to get her out of her thoughts, startling her in the process for she was too lost in them. When she looked up at him, he said that the boarding time has finally come and that even the crowd of people was already moving inside. They both lifted the bags, though Cole got most of them as a gentleman would, especially a just married husband, and they started moving toward the ship along with the still huge crowd of impatient couples.

* * *

After finally getting into the ship, the two of them were given 2 keys to their suite in the form of slide cards, a map of the ship, and a schedule of various events that were going to take place on it. Afterwards, Cole, along with Phoebe at his heels, headed towards their suite on the 6th floor after taking an elevator. The whole ship was like a museum. There were hundreds of beautiful paintings on the walls everywhere; there were also little statues in the corners making this place even more beautiful. The one that caught Phoebe's eyes the most was a delicate statue of Cupid with a bow and arrow in his hand, pointing it towards the people that would walk past it on the ship. Phoebe knew that the real Cupids didn't use the arrows but rather magical rings instead, at least in this time they did. After all, she did meet one of the Cupids just less than a year ago when he asked for the Charmed One's help to defeat Drazi, the demon of hate. 

The whole ship was definitely quite a scene to anyone's eyes. No wonder so many people wanted to go on their honeymoon in this particular ship. Just standing in it made you feel unique, almost as if you were a royalty living in the richest palace on Earth.

Phoebe pulled out of her reverie as the two of them finally reached their suite. Cole opened the door using his slide card and once they came inside, the sight before them took Phoebe's breath away. The place was luxurious to say the least. The living room alone was just super spacious – maybe she could pretend that not was she only married for 3 weeks, but also that she was royalty too. Neither Darryl nor Cole told her how much the Police Department paid for these tickets, but she didn't even want to think about the price because she knew she would probably just get so sick in her stomach that she wouldn't even be able to go through with the mission.

The "happily married couple" came inside and started looking around their suite after putting their bags on the floor. There was a thought that crossed both of their minds, which debated on whether or not it was truly their suite and if there wasn't any mistakes on who got what rooms. But they both let it pass aside and just simply started to unpack.

From all the silences that had settled between the supposed newlyweds, Phoebe figured that her "husband" was a very quiet type of man. He didn't like to talk much about anything, except for the things that mattered to both of them. So far, he only talked about their mission and nothing else. However, Phoebe made a mental note to ask him about his past since she should know about him at least a little bit – they are married after all and usually people don't marry after knowing each other for 3 days and not knowing a thing about each other. It was _only_ because of that reason. Yes, it didn't have anything to do with the fact that she wanted to date him later on in the future once this was over and done with.

By the time Phoebe and Cole finished unpacking, it was already lunchtime and the ship had finally sailed away from the port. Now they were alone and had to do their act convincingly so that nobody could suspect a thing about them. Because of that, they had to act like a married couple when they were anywhere on the ship besides their suite. So they walked hand in hand to one of the restaurants on the ship while seeing hundreds of couples walking by them, happy and in love, the way they pretended to be, though not completely pretending since there was that little spark in both of them since the first day they had met, which neither of them would admit… yet.

* * *

The two of them sat in the back of a very nice restaurant about 15 minutes later. They wanted to be a bit farther from everyone here so that they could talk more freely to each other. A waitress brought them the menus which offered so many delicious things that they didn't know what to pick, but finally settling for 2 salads they ordered their lunch. As they waited for their orders, Phoebe took this as an opportunity to get to know him better, starting the first conversation between them in considerably a long time. 

"So, Cole, tell me something about yourself," she started a bit nervously, not knowing how he will respond.

Cole looked up at Phoebe, startled a bit from the unexpected question, and questioned her in response, "Like what?"

"I don't know. Anything, I guess. I mean, I should know something about you, just like you should know something about me since we are supposedly married. I don't really want to get into a situation in which I'm talking with someone I meet here and the conversation somehow leads to my "husband," whom I know nothing about. So what do you say?"

"Okay then. What do you want to know? Ask away," Cole didn't know what to tell her about himself. He hoped she wasn't going to ask him much about his past. He didn't feel like saying, 'Oh, well, for the past century I killed more witches and just your normal everyday humans than anybody can count. I have been the most powerful demon in existence, but I decided to quit and try living my life as a human.' Yeah, that would have caught her attention. Suddenly, he pulled out of his thoughts as he heard Phoebe ask something, though he obviously missed what. "Sorry about that. What did you say?"

"I noticed already that you don't like to talk much. But, I don't know, tell me about your family. Where were you born and when? I should know your date of birth." That was a given. What if somebody asked her his date of birth when it was needed?

_Date of birth – great. Just great. How do you tell a woman that you're 115 years old_?_ Yep, I was born in 1885. _Then I just might as well ask, _don't you think I look good for my age?_ He could just imagine her reaction. First, she'd think it's just a crazy joke, and then she'd think that _I'm_ just plain crazy. He finally came up with a lie to say and tried to keep a straight face. "I was born in San Francisco, same as you. And I was born on August 16, 1971." It was half a lie since all he said was true, except for the year in which he was born.

"1971. Okay, but what about your family?" Just then the waitress brought their salads to them. They thanked her and started to dig in.

In-between bites of his salad, Cole finally muttered without looking up to meet Phoebe's eyes, "I don't really like to talk about my family. I lost them a long time ago." He didn't think that saying his demonic mother killed his father when he was 3 years old would be a good idea. It's not exactly the best conversation starter.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. But I do know what that's like. My father left when I was very little and then my mom died a little while after that…" Cole heard what she was talking about until then, but then everything else was just a blur. His attention switched to the entrance of the restaurant where he saw a familiar figure walk in.

"… So, as you see, I know what that's like… Cole… Hello? Earth to Cole," Phoebe tried to get his attention, in the end finally even waving her hand in front of his face. His attention finally switched back to the woman sitting in front of him and waving her hand.

"Sorry," he said while glancing at the entrance once more. After a couple seconds of silence, he continued again, "Don't be obvious, but turn back and look at the entrance." She did as she was told. "A man just walked in wearing a black suit and right now he's talking to the waiter. Do you see him?" Phoebe nodded her head and then a surprised expression crossed her face.

"Wait a minute, I know him." Now it was time for Cole to be surprised and he raised his eyebrows as he asked, "How? We never showed you his pictures? Are you sure we're talking about the same guy?" He asked it just to make sure, but it was quite obvious they were talking about one and the same person because he was the only one standing near the entrance, now moving to a table, and still talking with a waiter.

"Yes, I've known him when I lived in New…"

"That's Michael Banmer. He's the guy we're after." That was all that Cole said as he cut her off. He looked at Phoebe and saw her dubious expression. "What? How did you know him in New York?"

With an attitude, obviously angry, Phoebe answered, "Three years ago when I still lived in New York I've known him for about a month as Jake Mitchell. He was my boyfriend at the time. Why is it that I always end up with the worst men out there on planet Earth? I just can't believe he's one and the same person." Phoebe's ranting was just starting and she definitely had a right to do so. Since she became a witch, she found out that many of her dates were in reality demons and now she finds out that even when she was a normal female, her boyfriend was a criminal. That's just great.

Meanwhile, Cole was thinking of what they had gotten themselves into. If Banmer knew Phoebe in New York, he might think of her as a threat now. But on the other hand, they just might get closer to him Phoebe's previous connection to him. In either case, now they would be in even more danger, and even though you could say he liked to play with fire before when he used fire ball, right now this kind of fire wasn't such a good idea because he's not alone now.

TBC

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Author Notes: I certainly don't want to disappoint you guys and I hope you liked this chapter as well. I'll try to update as soon as I can, but I am a slow writer due to my language barrier. This was the hardest chapter to write so far, but I finally completed it. By the way, I got the idea for the scene during their lunch from the episode "Power Outage." You might have seen some similarities because of that. Also, I don't go out much to any place and because of that I don't know much about anything. So if you see something in this story that isn't very realistic, just please either ignore it and read on or tell me about it and I might change it so that it will be closer to the truth. 

P.S. – I still need HELP:

I am new here and I don't know all the functions and all that. My story and a poem that I posted only have one space between paragraphs and I can't figure out how to make it so that I can make more spaces than just to separate the paragraphs. Please, help me figure it out.

Also, when I try to separate my writing to show that more time passed by or that it's a new scene, I can only do it using a ruler while previewing. It just doesn't stay on from Microsoft word. Do you guys know how to fix it? (I use Microsoft word to type my story/poems – if it helps to know.) Please help me. Thanks.

And now, please review. Thanks.


	4. The Meeting

Hi, guys. I'm back. I am soooo sorry for not updating for so long, but you know, school started and there isn't that much time left for other things. I will be continuing this story and will finish it eventually. However, I might only have time to do that during the weekends.

phoebe turner: Don't worry about updating the 2nd chapter. Trust me, I know what it means to have computer problems because my old computer was just driving me insane for over 4 years. Luckily for me, though, I finally got a new computer this summer, so I don't have problems as often. As for Prue and Piper, they will be in this story, but not for a while. Once the "honeymoon" is over, they will be in the story again (honeymoon is just like the 1st part of this story).

Ancient Galaxy: Don't worry, I will be continuing this story, it's just that I don't have much time since the school has started.

Blue eyes6: There will definitely be more danger added to the story because of Phoebe knowing their suspect and some rather interesting situations due to that. Also, thanks a lot for the review on "I Surrender." You are the first one to review that songfic and even though I know it wasn't that great, I am really thankful to you for reviewing it.

Max: Thanks for both of your reviews on the 3rd chapter. Glad you like it so far.

viktriap: I agree with you that Cole would have come up with some story about his parents, but that doesn't mean that he had to tell that same lie to Phoebe. After all, he doesn't answer to her and he could have just made the excuse that he doesn't want to talk about it, which isn't really a lie. By the way, I sort of used that idea because of how he responded to a similar question in "Power Outage." Anyway, here's more.

ColePhoebe4eva: Thanks for the review and for the definition of "lol." You have no idea how long I've been trying to figure it out and it all was in vain. Thanks again.

sehar: Thanks for the compliment and, what can I say? Here's more.

NorthShoreFan: That's okay. From the look of things, it seems that just about nobody knows how to fix the same problem that I have. When I read some stories that were written in, like, 2001 or something, I saw that many people changed the format a lot, so I thought I was the only one that didn't know how. But now I see I was wrong. Thanks anyway.

Phoebe Turner Halliwell: Trust me, I will be putting more and more Phoebe/Cole moments into the story. So far it has only been "setting the stage" kind of thing and me learning how to write something besides essays for school. But, I came up with the idea that Jake/Michael was Phoebe's boyfriend so that I could use the "Cole gets jealous" kind of plot, which I came up with the day I was writing chapter 3. And they will definitely have to pretend to be married very soon. Anyway, don't worry, there will definitely be more of their moments, maybe sooner than you might even think. Oh, and thanks for the review on "I Surrender" songfic – it means a lot to me.

Here's the 4th chapter. Hope you like it.

* * *

Honeymoon Is Where It Begins

By: True Love Lives Forever

Chapter 4: The Meeting

Once Phoebe's ranting subsided a bit, the couple decided to make an unnoticed exit from the restaurant. Both of them lost their appetite right after their conversation about Michael Banmer being the same person as Jake Mitchell and that Phoebe knew him. They definitely had more pressing issues to think about now, and eating just didn't seem to be as important at the moment. Cole paid for their meals, for which he had asked the bill a couple of minutes ago, and gave an appropriate tip to the waitress.

Then, the two of them took their things, which only included a purse for Phoebe and a coat for Cole, and got up to leave. They tried to leave as quietly as possible, so that Banmer or Mitchell, or whatever they were supposed to call him, wouldn't notice them right now. They wouldn't be able to avoid him for the rest of the cruise on this ship and they both knew that perfectly well. However, they did want to leave unnoticed today, so that they could talk in their suite about the whole situation and figure out what they should and shouldn't do.

Both of them walked hand in hand to make an impression of a normal marriage as they came closer to the entrance. They thought that they had actually made it out without being noticed by their suspect. Phoebe even gave a sigh of relief because she seriously didn't want to talk to him at the moment since she didn't want to say something she would regret only a couple of seconds later. After all, she might have stopped her ranting, but she was still fuming inside and having to talk to her ex-boyfriend who happens to be a criminal would not be a very good idea right now.

However, her relief didn't last for long and it was too soon for that anyway because unfortunately for Cole and Phoebe, Banmer was sitting pretty close to the entrance and in the exact moment that they were leaving, he noticed a woman that he still remembered after more that 3 years. She had made quite an impression on him at the time they were together and he didn't waste the opportunity to talk to her again. He instantly stopped eating his lunch and called out to her.

"Phoebe? Is that you?" Phoebe was just passing him by at about 15 feet away from him. He stood up from his table and walked closer to the entrance. Of course he noticed that there was a man walking along with his ex-girlfriend, but he decided not to pay much attention to that. Sure they might be here together, maybe they were even married. After all, that's what couples here on his ship are for – to be on their honeymoon. But he was never really much of a man that paid attention to morals. Besides talking with her couldn't do much damage. Though on the other hand, he liked her before and if those feelings came back, maybe he should do some damage to their relationship, if there was any that is.

For Phoebe, this was like a nightmare that came to reality. She didn't need to turn around to know to whom the voice belonged to. It was Mitchell's, or rather Banmer's as she corrected herself in her own head. She wanted to avoid him at all costs and if she ignored him, pretending she didn't realize somebody called her name, maybe he would leave her alone. However, she didn't even have the time to try and use that evasive idea because Cole did stop walking, forcing her to do the same since their hands were linked.

Phoebe slowly turned around, not wanting to do so, and stole a quick glance at her supposed husband. He didn't look like he wanted to be here either, but he had to pretend, just like her, so that Banmer won't get suspicious. So Cole pulled on a fake smile on his face and looked at the man he was after, trying to pretend to be surprised that anybody from this ship new his "wife."

Meanwhile, Phoebe also made a fake smile and looked surprised at the man whom she wanted to scratch with her long fingernails, making long and bloody lines down his face, though she didn't do as she wished and suppressed that strong urge. Instead, she verbally responded to her ex-boyfriend.

"Jake? What a surprise," she said, pretending that she only knew him by his old name with which they were introduced all those years ago. In this moment, Banmer came up to the couple that were still holding hands and stopped right in front of them. This gave Phoebe the opportunity to glance over her ex-boyfriend and she came up with the conclusion that he hasn't changed much since they last saw each other in New York. Despite her urge to make some damage to this Jake, she had to admit that he looked very good physically – his body was still nicely built; he was obviously working out even now. His eyes were green, unlike Cole's deep blue. The business suit definitely matched him even though she usually didn't like 'all-work-and-no-play' kind of guys. That also made her wonder why he even bothered to dress up professionally right now. After all, it was his ship, and people here didn't really have to dress up. This was just a time for people to relax and spend time with those they loved and married. Besides, he is a criminal. Do criminals usually wear suits? _Either way, obviously this one does_, she thought to herself.

_Both men, Cole and Jake/Michael, definitely looked charming to say the least and Cole has got himself quite a competition in that department_, Phoebe thought to herself with an ironic smirk, which neither of the men noticed, thankfully. However, now that she knew that Jake was no angel, Cole was definitely a better choice. Little did she know about Cole and his previous demonic life, though.

That is when Jake's voice pulled Phoebe out of her private thoughts. "Yes, this is definitely a surprise." As he finished saying that, he leaned forward to Phoebe to hug her. She was too surprised to do anything and she didn't know what to do anyway. She didn't think that hugging an ex-boyfriend would be very appropriate when your husband is right there next to you. Sure Cole wasn't her real husband, but Jake doesn't know that and she should keep it that way. The hug didn't last all that long, but it was enough to make Phoebe uncomfortable and to confuse Cole on what he felt at that moment.

"What are you doing here, Phoebe?" Jake asked her as he pulled away and made a sideways glance towards Cole, whom he expected to be getting into the "jealous" mode right there and then.

At the moment, though, Cole was busy figuring out his feelings. He probably just didn't want his partner with which he had to work on this assignment to get into trouble and that is why he felt something funny in his gut when the Jake hugged Phoebe, a bit more than just friendly, in his opinion. Jake, on the other hand, took in Cole's expression as that of jealousy and in a weird sense, felt like he accomplished something for the day.

Noticing Jake's glance, Phoebe found out what he meant since he was now looking straight at Cole. Even Jake knew that she wasn't really the type that wanted to get married any time soon. Truthfully, she thought that she would never get married, at least not until she's like forty or something. But now, here she was, pretending she was already married to a man she barely knew anything about. And now, the time has come to make the introductions from which she would rather escape, but knowing she couldn't. It was too late for that.

Nervously, Phoebe started, "Well, uh, Jake, meet Cole Turner. He is my husband." Once she said that, Jake was quite surprised, despite knowing that it was a possibility. However, Phoebe didn't notice it because she was too nervous to pay attention to his reactions. Cole, on the other hand, did notice because he was watching Michael's every move, hoping that he won't do anything "funny," though of course knowing that nothing like that will happen in such a big crowd. Too many witnesses for that. But he still didn't trust him for a minute, and that was that, period. How can you believe a criminal anyway?

Then, Phoebe pointed to Jake and said, "Cole meet Jake Mitchell, uh, uh, an old friend." She was still keeping her pretenses about the names and all that. Blowing up their cover on the first day isn't the way to go, that's for sure.

"A husband, huh? My, you have changed since I last saw you. And I thought you weren't the kind of girl that would easily give in to marriage," Jake said with a smirk. Then turning to Cole, Jake decided to correct Phoebe. "Oh, and actually I changed my name a few years ago. Now it's Michael Banmer, not Jake Mitchell." Then stretching out a hand for Cole to shake, he added, "Nice to meet you." Though if he was honest to himself, it wasn't all that nice of a meeting that they just had.

Phoebe was as beautiful as ever. She was just the same as when he last saw her, well except for being married. As he spend more and more time with her, even though it included her husband as well, he wanted to get her back more and more with each second. He decided that he will get her back, one way or another. He'll try the easy way first, but if that didn't work, he will go further to get what he wants.

It's not that he couldn't get any other women for himself because he could very easily. It's just that he liked the "hunt" for somebody he liked. It's just a game for him, and he liked playing with women, though maybe he will see where his relationship will go with Phoebe first before doing anything rushed, like ending it.

Michael's opponent's voice shook him out of his wicked plans. "Well, we have to go now. It's been a long day and I'm really tired. We'll see you later." As Cole finished saying this, he started turning around and grabbing Phoebe along with him, in an attempt to get away from any more conversations between the three of them. He let go of her hand when Michael started to hug her just a couple of minutes ago and now he linked hands with her again, eager to leave the restaurant. What he didn't expect, was Michael stopping them with a few short sentences that caused Cole to breathe with fury.

"Well, if you're tired, why don't you go to your suite, Cole, while Phoebe and I catch up on the old times?" Phoebe was nearly thrown off her feet at hearing this, not literally though. Not knowing what Michael wanted to do, she wasn't too fond of the idea, especially because there was that issue of him being a criminal that she was supposed to catch. It kept coming up into her mind even though sometimes she wished she would forget it. There is a limit as to what you can to deal with in one day and the news she received were a bit too much for her to handle as it was. In addition to all that, she had a lot of things to think through with Cole and figure out what kind of approach they should use in this whole crazy situation that they've gotten themselves into.

Just when Phoebe wanted to come up with some lame excuse that Michael might buy, hoping not to be too rude to him as well in case she would have to get close to him later on, Cole beat her to it. However, unlike her, Cole was not in the mood for trying to be polite anymore. This guy was seriously starting to get on his nerves. Not was he only trying to get Phoebe to be alone with, but he was just about pushing Cole as far away from her as possible in various ways that he hoped would work. No, that is not going to happen no matter how much he tries. This guy was dangerous and Cole wasn't planning to leave his wife alone with a killer. It doesn't matter that she might not be his real wife. She was his responsibility and he had to keep her safe. Besides, if she just stayed with this Michael, what would he think of their marriage? That it's a hoax? Or maybe if they were continually separated from each other, Michael might even figure out that something is not right with them. He might suspect that they are not who they seem to be.

"No. We're going _now_. Maybe you two can catch up later on the old times, someday," was the only reply Cole gave, anger evident in his voice.

Not bothering to say good-bye to the man he was facing, Cole turned around, strengthened his grip on Phoebe's hand, and started leaving. Phoebe, not knowing what to say in this situation, just followed Cole without another word.

Cole tried to prove to himself that the reasons he came up with were the only reasons that he didn't want to leave Phoebe along with that pervert. Those were really convincing reasons and of course they made total sense. However, what he tried to avoid admitting to himself was that there was a little pang of jealousy creeping up from his gut, giving him some chills as well. What would happen if she did stay with that criminal? Would the old sparks start to fly again despite her knowledge about who this Michael Banmer truly is?

With those thoughts, the two of them finally left the restaurant and started making their way towards their suite – silently. There would be time to discuss everything later once they are alone and Cole wasn't in the mood for talking right now anyway.

Meanwhile, Michael looked at Phoebe's retreating back as she walked with her man. _Though not the same man she was going to be with soon_, he thought with a wicked grin. He would be with her soon enough.

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Author Notes: I know this chapter wasn't very long and I am really sorry. I know what it's like to read a story on FF and wait for an update. I did that for 2 years! I'll try updating as soon as I can, so just please, bear with me.

By the way, what do you guys think so far? What do you think about this Michael character? What do you think will happen next? (I have this story planned out for the most part, but suggestions are always welcome if you have some good ones that you would like to see happening in this story.)

Please review now. You have no idea how much it means to me. Thanks.


	5. Newlywed Fights

Thank you guys (and girls) so much for your reviews. They mean a great deal for me.

ethereal girl: Yes, Cole is unsure of what he feels and that's going to stay that way for a little while longer. As for your question, Cole does have his powers. He's just trying to use them as little as possible. You might want to read the last part of chapter 1 again. That is where he sort of talks about his life for a little bit, kind of gives the summary of it. But don't worry, I'll explain everything as I go further into the story. And as for Phoebe, it is definitely like her to fall for the bad guys. Totally true. Oh, and there will be more and more confrontations between Michael and Cole (well, not exactly fistfights right away, but eventually, there might be some).

sveta89: Okay. Frankly, I've got no clue what "XD" means, but I'll take it as a compliment or something like that. Thanks for the review. I hope I won't disappoint you.

middnightblossom: Thanks and I'll try updating more often from now on.

Vampiress24: First of all, do you know anybody who DOESN'T like reviews? I doubt it. And of course I love reviews. I'm glad you reviewed this story. Thanks for the support - it means a lot to me. Oh, and you're going to read more about how creepy Michael is.

Phoebe Turner Halliwell: Yep, Cole is jealous, though he doesn't know it quite yet. And yes, in the show there weren't any moments in which Cole got jealous and that is definitely something that could be explored further. Oh, and sorry for not updating for so long and for not reviewing your story for the past couple of chapters. I just haven't gotten around to it. I will review them once I read them, though.

pam halliwell: Thanks. I'll try updating the story as soon as I can, though sometimes that's not often enough and I do feel very bad for that.

Ancient Galaxy: Thanks.

lou: There will be more interactions between Phoebe and Cole, and trust me, you will find out more about Michael. He will be playing quite a part in this story - in the beginning anyway since, like the title suggests, honeymoon is just the beginning for everything.

sehar: Oh, you are definitely going to see Phoebe and Cole getting into an argument, that's for sure. As for the rest, you're just going to have to wait and see. I don't want to give too much away. (Aren't I evil?)

phoebe turner: Thanks.

Please, **don't **hire an assassin to kill me. I'll be good from now on. I'm so terribly sorry for not updating for such a long time. I know it's been almost two months since my last update. It's just that things have been going crazy for me lately, especially after I got sick at the end of September. Then, all of the catch-up work from school was killing me. Ironically, I got sick again and I have missed school. That is why I had the time to write this chapter. In any case, I'll really try my best updating every week or so (I know I said that last time, but this time I do really mean it). Enough with the chit-chat. Here's the new chapter. I've been writing it for three days, so I hope it was worth it.

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Honeymoon Is Where It Begins

By: True Love Lives Forever

Chapter 5: Newlywed Fights

It seemed like it took Phoebe and Cole forever to actually get to their suite because the silence between them was way too unbearable and every moment made it even worse than it was before. Eventually, they did reach their room and quietly got in - everything was silent.

Of course this was the uncomfortable silence that spread across the room and it was becoming harder and harder for the two of them to stay that way. But at the same time, neither could find the words to express what they felt. Everything was just too crazy around here, and it was their very first day here. If it's that bad now, what awaited them in the future was something they didn't want to think about.

After some time, which seemed way much longer for them than it really was, Cole couldn't just stand it anymore. By now his blood was just totally boiling and he couldn't even pin point on the reason. That was the thing that was really driving him insane.

This was it. Cole couldn't keep it to himself and the one thing that was on his mind for way too long finally exploded in a series of ranting, "Can you believe him? Come on, could he be any more blunt than he already was?" The only thing that he was able to do at that time, in addition to ranting, was wave his hands around as if they were caught with fire, almost as if that proved his point. "I mean, why didn't he just ask you to marry him right there and then? Sure he now knows that you're married, but hey, that doesn't seem to stop him from flirting with you and throwing me out the restaurant door."

But, unfortunately for Cole, Phoebe was not a happy camper either. Her temper was also on the edge, just like Cole's and she was not about to let him vent and sit quietly as he does it. "Hey, will you calm down. If anybody has the right to get pissed off right now, it's _me_." She threw her hands in the air, almost imitating Piper when she freezes something, or somebody. "Can things get any worse? Ugh. I probably shouldn't have even asked that. Now I probably jinxed myself again to an even larger degree." Under her breath she added, "As if that's possible."

Frustrated, she sat down on the comfy chair that she was standing by and automatically put her head in-between her hands - the obvious motion of despair and confusion. "Can't I have one normal boyfriend that's not a criminal and is decent at the same time. Is that just too much to ask?"

That is when an idea hit her, "Hey, maybe I should become a nun. That way I will not have to put up will all of this… this…" Not knowing how to express her thoughts, she just waved her hands into the air. Of course that was only a joke. A crazy joke since it came out of Phoebe's mouth and not somebody else's, but it did get a reaction from the one person that was with her in the same room because as soon as Cole heard what Phoebe said, he couldn't help but snort in response.

Then he added, "Yeah, what a great idea. But you're going to have to wait on that one. I'm sure your ex-boyfriend, or rather the future boyfriend, is already planning how to ask you out once again. Though I'm sure this time he'll probably create some kind of a diversion to get rid of me first and then do that. Actually, never mind. He doesn't care whether I'm here or…" He didn't get the chance to finish that thought of his for he was interrupted by no other than Phoebe.

"Oh, pleeeaase, Cole." She shot him an angry look as she stretched the word for a couple of extra seconds in sarcasm. "Will you knock it off already? He doesn't even know where we're staying. I never told him how to find us, remember. Besides, what's your problem anyway?" With some additional sarcasm, she asked, "What? Didn't get enough coffee in the morning?"

"Oh, I got enough coffee, thank you _very much_. But in case you forgot, which I'm sure you did, so don't bother answering that one, your old and new boyfriend actually owns this ship. You remember that one? He could find out where we're staying before we can blink our eyes!"

"Oh, you're so smart, aren't you? You know, I…" Phoebe just stopped mid-sentence. She was mad and obviously so was he. But as much as she wanted to argue with somebody to get her anger out, she also knew it was pointless. So instead of continue their first "newlywed fight," she just took a long sigh. Phoebe realized he was right. She _knew _he was right even before, but it just felt good to release her built up stress. Instead, she just got lost in her thoughts.

There was no way that they'll be able to hide from Michael on this ship. He'll know instantly where they are since he's got too many people he can ask for help that work for him. As for Phoebe and Cole, they've got nobody to depend upon. Only each other. If they screw up somehow, there's not going to be anybody who can help them out. They're all along in the ocean while Darryl and the police are on land with no way of contacting them and vice versa since that would cause Michael to be way suspicious of the two of them.

But then again, why on earth is she thinking this way. It's not like they have to hide from him because he already knows that they're after him. There's no way he could have figured that out in the little time they have seen each other. Besides, Michael's obvious interest in her might actually help her and Cole to get the information they need to bust him for smuggling drugs - the reason they're here in the first place.

_Michael_, right. It was starting to get on her nerves how Cole always repeats _boyfriend _and _boyfriend_, instead of using his name. He didn't have to point out her mistake over and over again or stick his nose into it. Sure he's stuck in the middle of it now. But why is he making such a huge deal about it anyway? How was she supposed to know that he was a criminal. Well, now it's time to correct some of her past mistakes by putting him behind bars.

Cole's sarcastic words brought her out of her reverie, "You might as well start thinking of what you will tell him when he comes in here asking to… I don't know. Something. Ask you on a date or whatever."

Phoebe looked up at him, just in time to see him flop onto another comfy chair opposite her. "Cole," she softly called out. He looked at her tiredly and she took that as a sign to continue, "Come on. It's actually not that bad. We're not running away from him. That's not going to help us anyway." She paused for a second and hopefully said, "Well, at least not yet."

"So what are you saying?" He was not in the mood to try and figure out what her little mind thought of this situation. After all, he's not psychic and he's not going to become one anytime soon. Besides, this whole mess was starting to give him a headache a long time ago and with every moment it was becoming worse and worse. That's the moment he got his response, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"We can use this situation to our advantage. I can try to distract him long enough for us to get what we want and be over with it." As she was talking, Cole stretched out on the chair and listened to Phoebe rather unwillingly, though at the same time knowing that she was right. The ship was too huge for them to just start searching it randomly. Who knows how Michael manages to get those drugs through on this ship, and especially where? It would take them way too long to get enough clues to help them out and unfortunately, time was the one thing they really lacked. After all, 3 weeks isn't that long. They better start somewhere and this was their only way in. It might not be the easiest and the safest, but it was the one that most likely will bring results they need.

Nevertheless, as much as he thought this was the best way to go about their case, there was a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that was bugging him, telling him that something was not right here. There was some kind of a reason to not go about it this way. He knew there was something, but he couldn't pinpoint it right away. It was just floating somewhere in his subconscious but also out of reach at the moment.

Cole's thoughts just started to flow one after another. _It probably had to do with the fact that if Phoebe started to hang around this Michael guy, it will give people the false impression about me. After all, if a girl hangs around another guy, something was probably wrong with the first one, which is me in this case. This nagging feeling was probably a result of not wanting to look like an idiot in front of others. Though on the other hand, since when did I really care about what others felt about me? I always did what I wanted without a care in the world. Why should now be any different? Maybe because I don't want to mess up my first undercover job. That could be it. That was probably it._

Even though his head was telling him that he finally came up with the right reason, his heart was telling him otherwise. There was something else that he didn't quite think about. In any case, it was just getting to hard for Cole to think and the more he thought, the worse headache he got from it as a result.

Instead of thinking any longer, he just decided to lie down and relax. This day was long enough as it was, even though it was barely 4 pm. With a sigh, Cole raised himself and went over to the sofa, where he spread himself until he was comfortable enough. A quick glance in Phoebe's direction showed him that relaxation and rest was the exact thought in her mind as well.

There would be plenty of time to look around the ship and snoop around. After all, a couple of hours wouldn't do that much damage and them being wasted on the very first day was not such a good idea anyway. They can start on their mission in the evening, once they rest for a little while.

---

**One and a half weeks later**

---

Despite Phoebe and Cole wanting to make as much progress as possible in their mission, it just seemed impossible, or at least very close to impossible.

At first, they tried figuring out where Michael and whoever might be working for him hid the drugs on this ship. That, however, didn't go too well. They searched the places they could get into without being caught. That proved to be pointless. They didn't want to risk it and go into restricted areas. Otherwise, if they got caught then their cover was going to be blown.

At least that was what Phoebe did and thought that Cole did as well. However, unknown to her, Cole did have some pretty close calls on that end. Sometimes, when Phoebe would be asleep, he would go out, or rather shimmer out, and search some of the restricted areas on the ship to the passengers. Those mostly included places were only the staff could go to and some where only the captain and especially Michael.

But despite all of Cole's efforts, even that method didn't get him very far. The only thing he achieved a couple of times was _almost _getting caught, though shimmering out back into his and Phoebe's suite before somebody got the chance to see him.

Michael, though, was seriously becoming more and more annoying for Cole. It seemed that no matter where he went or did, he was always around him and Phoebe. The only thing that Cole could be glad about is that Michael wasn't around the places he would shimmer in. That would seriously be horrible if somehow Michael caught him doing that. Not only would he bust Cole for spying on him, but he would also discover magic and that it really exists. Cole knew that he shouldn't be using magic in such a situation, but he just couldn't help it anymore. At first, he didn't use it, but he just started to do so a couple of days ago when it became clear that neither him nor Phoebe will find anything just by searching the "easy" places.

In any case, even though Cole supposed that Michael was going to hang around him and Phoebe since the very first day of their cruise when he found out that they "knew" each other, it was just too much for him. It was very obvious that Michael wasn't even trying to hide his interest in Phoebe at all. He was just asking her to spend time with him at every opportunity and meeting, which Cole had to admit was a little too often for his taste.

In the beginning, Phoebe refused. But since their research proved to be useless, Cole and Phoebe _had to _agree that she had to accept Michael's proposal for a date, or as he put it, a way to catch up on the old times. So, for the past couple of days, Phoebe would do her job of distracting Michael as they would go someplace on the ship. Meantime, Cole would use that time to search places where only Michael had the right to go along with a couple other people. The hiding place of the drugs must be somewhere where not a whole lot of people could go to, otherwise these drugs would have been discovered a long time ago. Or that would mean that there are just way too many people involved in this whole thing, which is not a good thing for Cole and Phoebe since that would mean they are outnumbered even more than they thought in the beginning of getting into this whole assignment.

So far, Cole only got the chance to search Michael's office. Even though he'd been trying to do that for a couple of days, it wasn't that easy because there are always 2 guards outside of it 24/7. But that also seems a bit weird since Cole didn't even find anything that pertained to his case. He had to search everything very quietly so he didn't get the attention of the guards, but there was just a whole bunch of papers about Michael's deals with numerous companies and things such as that. Though nothing on drugs or other illegal business.

The bad thing for Cole, though, was that he only got the chance to search the office very late at night, while Phoebe was out with Michael doing God knows what. He was wondering what they were doing together. But by the time he got back into his suite, he just didn't have the strength to wait for her to come back and tell the tale. He just fell onto the bed and probably fell asleep right away as well. He didn't know for sure, so that must be what happened. He didn't even here when Phoebe came back - if she did.

---

"Rise and shine, _honey," _sounded Phoebe's cheerful voice with a playful emphasis as she opened the curtains of the bedroom windows to let the sun shine its light inside her and Cole's bedroom.

"You rise, you shine," was the short, grumpy, but "straight-to-the-point" kind of reply from Cole. Not having enough sleep didn't have a very positive effect on Cole, though by now he probably should have gotten used to it since he's been out searching the ship at night as well. Unfortunately, adding more sleepless nights to the list never helps anybody.

"Wow! I see I learned a couple of things about you right away, Hubby," said a mildly amused Phoebe.

"Oh, yeah? And what would those be?" Cole's question could be barely heard for he mumbled it into the pillow in a very sleepy voice as he glanced at the clock that was placed on the night stand.

With a little chuckle, Phoebe answered him, still being a bit amused, "Well, for starters, you really are cranky in the mornings and…"

Cole didn't let her a finish as he quite rudely interrupted her, "I'm not cranky in the mornings. And this is not a morning. It's still night. I consider 5:45 part of the night."

"Yeah, that just proves my point, Cole. You are not a morning person."

Cole started to sit up on the bed, but still very sleepy and not in the mood for anything. That is, anything except for one thing, and one thing only - sleep. "For your information, I am a morning person. But today is not my day." He started to stretch his neck and continued, "While you got to go around with our _dear friend_, having the time of your life, I ended up trying not to get caught as I was sneaking around every place that's associated with him. Speaking of which, when did you get back? And what on earth were you doing with that creep, anyway?"

"Creep? Oh, come on, he's not that much of a creep."

"Oh, my bad." Cole was not in a good mood, that was way too obvious, though obviously Phoebe didn't quite read the signs. Or if she did, she ignored them. Either way, the last thing Cole wanted was to start a conversation about his "best pal." But, on the other hand, starting out the day with an argument didn't seem like that bad of an idea, especially since he had nothing else to do and he was frustrated with quite a couple things that have been bugging him.

So he started saying the first thing that got on his mind, "Of course he's not a creep. He just sells drugs to the kids on the street which eventually kills them. Sure, he's not a creep. He's a Mr. Nice Guy. He's…"

"Okay, Okay. I know that. That's why I'm here, remember?"

"Really? Is that really why you're here? I'm actually surprised the two of you haven't gotten married yet. But hey, there's plenty of time until the end of this cruise. Only one and a half weeks are up, you've still got the same amount of time to actually do it."

That was the wrong thing to say for Cole because that got Phoebe to snap, "You know what? That's enough. What is your problem, anyway? There's no way in hell am I planning to marry him in a million years. I'll think of doing that only if pigs will start flying. Though, I doubt there's chance of that happening. Either way, I have never even though of marrying him and especially not now when I know what kind of bastard he is. And besides, the two of us aren't really married, remember?" As she said the last sentence, she pointed her fingers at Cole and herself, indicating whom she was talking about. But without losing a beat, she continued, "Or did you actually have a very crazy impression that somehow we were truly a husband and a wife? I'm just getting really sick of you complaining when you know very well this is the only way that we might be able to solve our problem and…"

"I know what we said before and why we're doing this, Phoebe," interrupted Cole, very much on the edge. "I know very well why we're here. I knew it before you did. And we both know that we agreed to try and get on friendly terms with this Banmer so that we might get some information out of him since there is obviously no other way. But you didn't have to get _that _close to him either! Now he probably thinks that you never even _liked _me since you now agree to do whatever he asks you to."

"Hey, I don't do _everything _he asks me to. And if anybody's reputation is at stake here, it's _mine_. I am the one that end up looking like a slut here, not you. And you know what? I didn't even volunteer for this. Okay? The only reason I agreed to go along with this stupid mission is because of Darryl. He's a very good friend of my family and I didn't want to offend him or anything like that by refusing. So back off, Cole, and stop acting like a baby!"

"Who? Me? I'm a baby? Oh, please, if anybody here is acting like a kid, it's you!"

That was the last straw for the two of them. They just kept arguing because it seemed like the only thing left to do mostly because both of them were just too stubborn to let it go and be the first ones to give in. They had to get their way. But at the same time, they knew very well that they weren't going to get anywhere this way. They had to work together on this or they would both get into way too much trouble to be able to get out of it alive.

Phoebe was the first one to come to senses and to actually act on them. After taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself down. Then she spoke a bit more calmly then just seconds ago, "Let's just drop this. We're not getting anywhere this way and it's not helping us at all."

An unbearable silence followed her words for a couple of moments. Knowing that she was right, Cole gave in. "Fine," he said as he got up from the bed and went over to the closet to get some fresh clothes out. "Did you find anything useful from him?"

"No, I didn't get the chance to. I can't exactly just come out and ask him where he's hiding drugs on this damn ship. And I never had the chance to search anything that was nearby and belonged to him. Besides, it's not like I've been to his room or office or anything like that." After a short pause, she glanced at Cole and continued, "Speaking of which, did you get the chance to get into his office like you planned for the past couple of days?"

At that time, Cole was stretching his neck. It had been a rough night and his neck became quite stiff. "It was useless. It was just about impossible to get in there because he's got two guards watching his office. But once I got in, there was nothing about drugs or anything that might help us."

As Phoebe was swallowing the information, she realized he didn't mention something. "What about his computer? There must be something there."

"I tried to get on, but I need a password. I tried some words and phrases that I thought he might have used, but I don't know what the password." With a wry grin, Cole added, "Unless you can get him to confess a password to you, we're not getting anything from his stupid computer."

"Hey, that's a thought. Maybe I'll try to get it out of him somehow." Sure, she could get him drunk. But then again, from what she remembered, Michael didn't get drunk easily. She probably shouldn't risk it and try to get him drunk enough to question him. He might still comprehend enough to know what he was doing, or rather was she would be trying to do. You never know how somebody's mind really works and this idea could get her into serious trouble.

As if he was reading her mind, Cole turned around to look at Phoebe. "You do realize that you must be extra careful with that idea. He's not somebody you can mess around with easily. At least not without consequences." The only thing Phoebe did in reply was nod her head. She knew that and there was no point in getting into details anyway. Instead, there was something else that was on her mind that just popped into her head at that moment.

As interesting as it is, Cole got the feeling from Phoebe's expression that she wanted to ask him something, so he went out with it and asked, "What is it?"

"Huh?" Phoebe asked, confused, not knowing what he meant.

"What are you so curious about?" When his partner still looked like she didn't know what he was talking about, he added, "You look like you want to ask me something. Well, what is it?"

"Oh, that's what you mean." Now the meaning of his question had finally dawned on her. "It's nothing really. I was just thinking about what you said a while ago. How did you get into Michael's office if there are bodyguards there? You said before that you've been trying to get in there for a while and now you got in somehow. How?"

_Great_. Another question he did not want to answer. "_I shimmered in there" _would not be a very good answer to her question. She'd probably ask something like "What do you mean by 'shimmered in?'"

Oh, well. He just decided to use the easy way out. "There are guards _around _Michael's office, not _in _it. I just used good timing, got inside, looked around the place quietly without getting their attention, and found a good time to get out of there unnoticed when they left for a couple of minutes for some reason. Who knows what it was?" As he finished, Cole hoped he sounded realistic and that his face didn't betray him. It would be so much easier if Phoebe bought his story. He didn't want her to doubt him as well and wander what was going on with him.

To Phoebe, it did seem a bit strange, but since she didn't have any reason to doubt her partner, she didn't pay much attention to the pitfalls in his story. She just let it go. But she did say one thing, "Be careful. It's risky to do something like that. What if somebody came in? Especially Michael? We'd both be in over our heads."

With an inaudible sigh of relief, Cole replied, "Yeah, I know. I'll be more careful from now on." But at the same time, he was thinking to himself that that's not going to change much. He always shimmers into someplace after he senses whether or not somebody is there. The only problem that he might have is that somebody walks into the place so suddenly that he wouldn't even have the opportunity to shimmer out. So far, it's been going fine for the most part. Sure he had some close calls, but he had them for his whole life. That's not anything new. Besides, all of his senses are always on the lookout for any danger, which in this case includes intruders. Well, actually, if you think about it, he's the intruder while others aren't. Either way, he generally sees if any danger is coming up.

Phoebe's voice pulled him out of his reverie, "What are you planning next?" At this point she was sitting on a chair close to the bed, looking up at the one she was talking to.

After a moment of thinking, the addressed person replied, "I'm not quite sure. I want to search his suite. He probably keeps all of the secret information someplace close to him where nobody can put their hands on it." As he was saying this, he flopped on the bed once again and combed his hair with his own hand. By this time, all of the sleep was gone from his mind and he was in the full thinking mode, somewhat frustrated. "At least I hope that his suite is where he keeps all of this info. Otherwise, I'm clueless. We've been searching the ship for one and a half weeks. Our time is getting shorter and shorter by the minute and we're not any closer to the truth than we were when we got here. If I can't find anything in his bedroom, I don't know what else to do."

Totally understanding what her partner means, Phoebe didn't have anything else to do then to agree with him, "Yeah, I know you mean. I feel useless. We've been here for so long but we got nothing. Zip. Nada. Just absolutely nothing…"

Looking up at her, a bit amused but also knowing exactly how she feels, Cole stopped her rant before it got out of hand, "Okay. I got it. I got your point. We didn't get anything done so far. But that means that we just have to work harder."

Phoebe snorted at that. "No. For you that might mean that you have to search Michael's things harder. For me, on the other hand, that means that I have to spend more time with somebody who's is a jerk and who doesn't even know it himself. And if he does, he obviously doesn't give a damn. It's just so ridiculous. I mean, he doesn't even have any morals. I just can't believe I never noticed that about him when I lived in New York where I met him. How is that possible? Was I that stupid and blind?" She just kept ranting and didn't even glance in Cole's direction. "How on Earth can a guy keep asking out somebody whom he knows of as already a married woman? And as if that wasn't bad enough, he doesn't even try to hide it from her husband. Sure we're not married or anything, but _he _doesn't know that…"

What Phoebe didn't notice as she was continuing her rant, was that as she was talking, Cole was getting more and more angry by the minute. It was just crazy. The guy was seriously getting on his nerves and Cole didn't even understand why. He didn't like it when Phoebe would start talking about him, especially in this little rant of hers. Why? He didn't know. All he knew was that he wished he could avoid the "Michael" topics, as he labeled them, but at the same time, he knew it was impossible. That was what this whole mission was about, why they were here in the first place.

Because Cole got enough of the "Michael" problems in his own head and got tired and annoyed of hearing more about him and what he does, he interrupted Phoebe quite rudely. "Okay, Okay. Well, the sooner we get this over with, the less you're going to have to put up with him." Under his breath, he added, "And the less I'm going to have to deal with him, too."

Taken aback a little by Cole's tone of voice, also mostly surprised, Phoebe quit talking and looked up at him. As she put her thoughts together, she asked, "And how do you plan to get this thing over with?"

Not wanting to admit his lack of a plan, Cole just wanted to give the basic idea. But then, an idea popped into his mind. Even though for some reason he didn't even like his own idea, he still voiced it out, "He is going to come here tonight as well, isn't he?"

The only thing he got in reply was "most likely."

Since that is what he expected her answer to be, he continued a bit unwillingly, "Could you "watch him" whenever he comes in here once the two of you will leave?" As he said that, he was wandering himself where will they go and what will they do. Not knowing where these thoughts came from, he tried to ignore them and continued once again, "Meanwhile, I try to get into his suite and snoop around there. Hopefully, that will bring some positive results for us and neither of us will have to deal with him for much longer." Though somehow, he knew that was too much to ask for.

As for Phoebe, she just wished it would work. It's not that she seriously hated Michael. In fact, if she didn't know about him being a criminal that sells drugs, she would have probably enjoyed his company. It was just that fact that was spoiling his whole image. Of course she couldn't tell him that as a reply to "will you go out with me tonight?" So, she just decided to go along with this idea and hope for the best.

"It better be worth it," was the last thing Cole could hear from Phoebe as he watched her getting up from the chair she was in and walking out of the bedroom and into the living room, getting read to order breakfast and start out a new day full of excitement and unexpected events that the day would bring.

And, oh yes. The new day will bring a whole lot of unexpected events that will change both of their lives forever, not to mention their so called "honeymoon."

---

Author Notes:

So, what did you think about this chapter? I tried making it a bit more exciting, interesting, and with some sense of humor to sort of make up for the time that I haven't updated (sorry again about that). It's also **a whole lot **longer than usually (though please don't get used to it).

Anyway, how was it? Did you guys like it? How do you like the interactions between Cole, Phoebe, and Michael so far? Oh, and in the next chapter there will be some interesting moments revolving around Phoebe/Cole/Michael. Wanna guess from what I wrote so far?

I know I'm not really great at writing, but I think I am improving. But, please, keep in mind that it is my very first creative story ever. Before this one, I only wrote tons of essays and things such as that.

Anyway, please, REVIEW! It means a great deal to me. Besides, I'm not asking you guys to write an essay or anything. Just a couple of words is good enough for me (well, the more, the better. But I'll be really, really grateful for just a couple words. After all, something is better than nothing.) Please, REVIEW and THANKS!

P.S. Could somebody help me, please? When I go to the "C2 Manager" on my account and then go to the "stats," it says that I've got 4 _subscribers_. What does that mean and what am I supposed to do, if anything? I'm still trying to figure out how some things work around here, so I don't know everything just yet.

(You people aren't going to hire an assassin on me, are you? You better not. My mom nearly killed me as it is when she saw me working at the computer at 4 in the morning on Sunday, trying to finish this very chapter so that I can post it up on FF. Well, I actually call it a very late Saturday night, but who cares what you call it.)

P.P.S. How do you guys think Phoebe will react when she learns that Cole is a demon? (Just some food for thought, as one of my teachers say.)


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